Recently, a research team with McGill University's Department of Mechanical Engineering used modeling, optimization, and 3D printing to develop bio-inspired interlocking sutures. Geometric interlocking is very important in the adhesion and cohesion of both structures and materials; examples include fiber-reinforced composites, engineering, and adhesive science. This phenomenon is definitely present in nature, and is critical in tough biological materials, like bone, because it actually generates "toughness" and dissipates energy in materials that are normally brittle. Architectured materials based on this kind of bio-inspired interlocking have recently presented some attractive and unique combinations of properties; in the McGill study, the team introduced a new type of sutured material that combines architecture, bioinspiration, and geometric interlocking, while also exploring the sutures' multi-stability, involving sliding and interlocking between two distinct, stable states. Read more at 3DPrint.com: http://3dprint.com/167501/3d-print-i...ng-structures/